One of my favorite soup and salad suppers is going kosher French with onion soup.
My favorite recipe is very old and is an adaptation of Chicago’s Crate & Barrel recipe cards.
Soupe à l’Oignon Maison
6 servings
3 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoons olive oil
5-6 cups thinly sliced onions
Salt to taste
½ teaspoon sugar
3 tablespoons flour
8 teaspoons pareve beef bouillon powder
8 cups water
1 cup white wine
1 bay leaf
½ teaspoon safe
Salt and pepper to taste
1. Melt butter in a soup pot. Add oil and onions and stir to coat. Cover and cook for 15-20 minutes. Uncover, stir in salt and sugar. Cook for 30 minutes.
2. Stir in flour and cook for 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in 1 cup water and 1 teaspoon beef bouillon powder. Add the rest of the bouillon, water, wine, bay leaf and sage. Simmer for 30-40 minutes.
For company, especially, I turn this into Soupe à l’Oignon Gratinée:
1 loaf French bread, cut into 1-inch slices
Olive oil
Onion soup
¼ cup white wine
½ cup grated Swiss cheese
1 ½ cups grated Swiss and Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon olive oil
1. Preheat the oven to 325 F.
2. Place bread on a cookie sheet. Brush with oil. Bake for 15-20 minutes.
3. Pour soup into a casserole. Add additional wine. Sprinkle Swiss cheese on top. Place a layer of toasted bread on top. Sprinkle grated cheese on top. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of oil over cheese. Bake for 30 minutes or until soup is bubbling and cheese has melted.
4. Heat broiler to red hot. Place soup under broiler for one moment to brown cheese lightly.
Traditional French Onion Soup
8 servings
This is very old and comes from a food magazine of many years ago with my changes.
3 pounds short ribs
4 chicken wings
1 large onion
2 sliced leeks
2 sliced celery ribs and leaves
1 sliced carrot
4 sprigs parsley
1 tablespoon chopped turnip
1 bay leaf
Salt and pepper to taste
Pinch thyme
12 cups water
5 large onions, sliced and halved rings
3 tablespoons pareve margarine
2 tablespoons flour
8 cups soup
Salt and pepper to taste
Toasted French bread
Pareve grated cheese
1. Place short ribs, wings, leeks, celery, carrot, parsley, turnip, salt, pepper, thyme and water in a soup pot and cover. Simmer for 3 ½ hours, strain and reserve.
2. In another soup pot, add sliced onions and sauté in margarine. Blend in flour and cook for 1 minute. Add soup, salt and pepper. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes.
To serve, pour into soup bowls, sprinkle French bread on top and pareve grated cheese. Broil for 3 minutes.
Sybil Kaplan is a Jerusalem-based journalist, author and compiler/editor of nine kosher cookbooks. She is a food writer for North American Jewish publications, and she leads walks of the Jewish food market, Machaneh Yehudah, in English.
